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So Rupert Murdoch made a bid for Dow Jones. And he said he’d create an independent oversight board for The Wall Street Journal like he did for the London Times when he bought it, which can veto News Corp.’s top-level hiring decisions. And the Bancrofts were miffed about that. The London board wasn’t strong enough. It couldn’t protect their paper enough. Hell, it couldn’t even protect Harry Evans. They wanted a strong, all-powerful board. They wanted Murdoch’s money, but they didn’t want him hurting their newspaper. Murdoch, however, rejected their proposal. He didn’t want an all-powerful outside board. He didn’t even offer a board as powerful as London’s. “They can’t sell their company and still control it — that’s not how it works,” he said to Time magazine. “I’m sorry!” And now today the Times reports a deal has been reached on an oversight board. It will, after all that, be much like London’s.
Still Another View of Role of Panel Proposed for Wall St. Journal [NYT]
